The present invention is directed to an apparatus for supporting a handpiece and for supplying necessary operating agents to the handpiece, which will have a hose with supply lines extending to a connecting member. The apparatus includes a housing having a support arrangement including at least one support recess for receiving and storing each dental handpiece, a coupling member for each support recess coacting with the connecting member of the handpiece to connect agent lines in the housing to the supply lines of the hose of the handpiece. The apparatus also includes a control arrangement for selectively controlling the particular agents required for that handpiece.
It is known to provide an apparatus which provides each dental instrument or handpiece with an associate module to control the flow or supply of agents to the instrument and to support the handpiece. The supply lines for the particular handpiece are firmly connected to the associated module. For example, the handpiece will have a supply hose with a connecting element or member which has standard connecting fittings that are connected to standard connecting fittings on the module. The disposition and sequence of the instrument holders is first prescribed. Given a desire for an additional instrument or for a different placement of the instruments in the arrangement, the purchaser or user must carry out a modification of the instrument holders of the apparatus. When, for example, a given instrument complement of one electrical motor handpiece and two turbine handpieces is provided and there is a desire to either add a second electrical handpiece or to add a surgical instrument, the arrangement of the modules must be changed with a removal of the module corresponding to the undesired instrument and its replacement by a module for the desired instrument. A rearrangement of the instruments in the framework of the daily operation routine in order, for example, to have an instrument at a different location in the support holder for grasping oriented reasons is only possible with the rearrangement of the modules in the system or apparatus.